


Keys and Paws [Previously Keys]

by truesilverflint



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Dipper and mabel are 17 ok xD, I dunno what else to tag this, I'll gladly take constructive critisim, Im new to AO3 so theres that., M/M, Slow Build, Uhm, rating might (probably) change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-05-10 03:07:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5568466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truesilverflint/pseuds/truesilverflint
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper finds a strange wolf in the woods, he keeps going back to see the wolf again, but what happens when the wolf takes him even deeper into the forest? What happens when Dipper doesn't come home and someone speaks to Mabel?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Exploring

**Author's Note:**

> I did write this before hand, the first three chapters that it. So they're a little meh. Chapter four will be better then these I promise! xD Anyways enjoy!

Dipper was wandering the forest, his journal in hand. He chewed on the end of a pencil as he walked. Dipper and Mabel had been returning to the Mystery shack for a few years now, however today the tensions were a little high for some reason, Grunkle Stan wasn't in the best of moods and Ford hid away in the basement as usual. Dipper sighed to himself as he jumped over a branch. Despite being a few years older, five to be exact, he was still the same scrawny boy, just a little taller. Mabel was an inch or two shorter then him. They were staying at the mystery shack again this summer.

He decided that he'd sit up in a tree and just watch the wild life, or whatever else. The boy climbed a tree little to no difficulties, after being chased by a few monsters trees really did become great places to hide. He sat down on a relatively flat branch and let his legs dangle down, he swung them back and forth, watching the ground underneath him. Dipper sighed softly and leaned against the tree trunk, closing his eyes. He started to doze off in the summer warmth.   
  
The sun started to set, but Dipper didn't realize that as he dozed. He did wake up as his arms and legs started getting noticeably colder. He sat up quickly, dropping his pencil down the tree. He flinched slightly as he heard it hit a rock.

 _Well there goes that pencil... Probably chewed the life out of it first anyways.._ Dipper started to climb down the tree slowly, ignoring his every fear of walking alone in the dark. When he landed he glanced around for the pencil, but gave up quickly as he heard something in the bushes behind him. He thought he heard a growl too, this only made him walk faster through the woods. He kept glancing back, but kept moving as he continued to hear the growl or whatever and the cracking of branches. Dipper felt his stomach sink in fear as he realized that he was lost. _Oh no.. Oh no..._ He groaned to himself quietly. He heard another few cracks, these ones were closer. He heard the same growl and he turned around, backing up and accidentally running into a tree. He saw some sort of beast come out of the bushes, he gulped slightly and stood very still.

He realized that it was a larger then normal wolf, which.. Still didn't help him. Dipper squeezed his eyes shut as the wolf padded closer. Dipper opened one eye to see that a key was attached to a leather string around its neck. That stuck in his mind for some reason as the wolf walked closer. By now it was about three inches from his face. It sniffed, Dipper could smell it's rancid breath, but it showed no signs of attacking the shaking boy. The wolf lifted its head high and sniffed loudly.

It then pointed it's muzzle in a direction, the moonlight shined on it's coat, changing the color to the point where Dipper was unsure of what color it's fur _actually_ was. He looked to where the wolf pointed it's muzzle, realizing that the wolf had pointed him in the direction of the Mystery shack, he could see the distance light of the back door. The wolf sniffed Dipper once last time before turning around and heading back into the bushes. Dipper let out a large sigh before starting to head in the direction the wolf pointed.

 _Why in the world would a_ wolf _point me towards the shack instead of eating me... And why did it have a key around it's neck..._ Dipper pondered these questions as he walked, jumping over fallen trees and plants. He finally got to the clearing around the shack and walked to the door. He tried opening it but grumbled as he realized the door was locked.

He searched around for the spare key, though he had the feeling of being watched, ignoring it he found the key in the potted plant, brushing off the dirt he unlocked the door. Dipper hid the key back into the plant and opened the door, walking in. He locked it once again and sighed as he looked around the dark room. Dipper started to creep through the shack and up the stairs to the attic. He opened the door quietly, and saw that Mabel was sleeping on her bed. He shut the door behind him and took off his shoes. He climbed into bed, not even bothering to change into different clothes because he was so tired.

Though his body screamed for rest Dipper's mind continued drifting to the wolf. He sat up, his body practically groaning. The brunette reached over to the desk and lit a candle. He started flipping through the journal, trying to find _anything_ about overly friendly wolves. He came across something, but it was talking about a dire wolf, which was much larger, and was more undead looking then the wolf he saw. The key that dangled around its neck left Dipper thoroughly confused. Eventually his mind grew tired as well. He blew out the candle, and set it and journal on the desk before curling up and falling asleep.

Dipper woke up as the sun started to shine in his eyes, he always had disliked this side of the room, Mabel choose the other side when she had realized that the sun wouldn't shine onto it in the morning. He sat up, brushing a hand through his messy brown hair, pulling out a leaf or two. Suddenly the events from the night before came back to Dipper's memory. He glanced over to the other side of the room, seeing that Mabel was asleep. He stretched, cracking his back a few times before standing up and heading downstairs. He could smell the pancakes as he walked down. _I hope Grunkle Stan is in a better mood today.._ Dipper thought as he sat down at the table. He saw that it was Grunkle Stan that was cooking.

"Got home late last night huh? Fall asleep in the woods again?" Stan asked as he flipped a pancake. Dipper stayed silent for a moment.

"Yeah, I fell asleep, it was really nice out then next thing I knew it was dark out.." Dipper replied, unsure of any other way to explain it, however he kept the whole wolf thing to himself.

"Well you came back safe at least." His Grunkle replied, bring two pancakes to the table. Dipper started to put butter on the pancakes and then drowned them in syrup. Dipper took a bite and smiled slightly. He didn't reply as he stuffed his mouth with pancake. When Dipper finished he set his plates in the sink.

"Wake up, Mabel will you?" Grunkle asked Dipper. "Her pancakes are going to get cold by the time she wakes up."

"Alright," Dipper replied, heading up the stairs. He opened the door and called out her name, though he knew where she was. "Mabel! Stan made pancakes!" He said. That woke her up quickly.

"Pancakes!" She sat up, her hair was a mess. She was grinning, she no longer had braces, as her teeth were now set straight.

"Yup," Dipper replied. _Should I tell her about the wolf..?_ Dipper thought to himself. But he brushed it off and stepped aside as Mabel ran out the bedroom door and down the stairs.


	2. Pizza

Dipper turned around, watching as Mabel ran down the stairs. He sighed to himself and walked over to his bed, grabbing the journal. He once again flipped through it, trying to see if he could find anything in relation to that _wolf_.. Once again, nothing. He used a black light on the book, an old trick of his, or well.. Ford's trick. Once again. Nothing. He groaned in frustration, standing up. He tucked the journal into his jacket and grabbed a new pencil. He went down the stairs and made sure no one was watching before jumping out the back door and walking back into the woods. He went in the direction that he _believed_ the wolf had gone in. He came across large paw prints.

   _Do I really want to go chasing after a wolf that will_ probably _kill me, especially after it spared me once..._ Dipper thought to himself but something kept him walking. He chewed on the pencil absentmindedly as he walked looking all around him. He saw large claw marks in a tree, which quickly caught his attention. He jumped over to the tree and examined it. Fresh, no later then two hours ago. He saw other marks and started following them.

_More claw marks... Man I hope I'm really chasing a wolf instead of something else._ Dipper continued walking, the claw marks were now getting further spread out into there was a stream. Dipper panicked, looking around.

   "No more claw marks?" He said without a thought. He heard a branch cracking behind him, across the stream. He spun around and felt fear as he saw a large wolf, the same one from last night. It's yellow eyes seemed to be filled with... _Amusement.._ It's fur was auburn, very beautiful and the same key hung around its thickly furred neck on a leather string. Dipper stared at the wolf, practically frozen in fear as he watched it. The wolf snorted and stepped towards the stream. It stepped in and _walked_ through the stream, the water only reach up to it's shoulders, while Dipper would've been completely underwater.

   The wolf grunted as it shook out its fur, the majority of the water hit Dipper of course, by instinct he turned away to protect the journal. The wolf stared at Dipper now. He now noticed a large scar, like a claw mark or bite mark on it's shoulder. But it was healed and now tinted pick. The wolf dipped it's orange head and shook it slightly. The key glinted in the sun light filtering through the trees.

   "U-uh, I don't know w-who, or what you a-are, and I-I don't exactly trust you, but why are you here..?" Dipper asked, fully aware that he was talking to a wolf. The wolf grunted and stepped closer to Dipper, causing the boy to take two steps back. The wolf grumbled and turned its head away. Dipper furrowed his eyebrows and sighed. "Do you even talk?" He said, more so to himself then the wolf. The wolf pointed it's muzzle in the direction that the Mystery Shack was in. Dipper narrowed his eyes and glanced back.

   "Do you not want me here..?" Dipper asked. The wolf huffed and stomped a paw, Dipper's heart skipped a beat out of fear but he nodded slightly. "Okay.. Okay.."  He turned around and started walking, keeping his ear sharp in case the wolf came back, but he heard water and glanced back to see the wolf on the other side of the river. "That it the strangest wolf I've ever met..." Dipper decided aloud as he walked. Dipper chewed on his pencil as he walked, accidentally asking all his questions aloud.

   "Why did the wolf spare me again? Why did I even go back? Is it trying to protect me?" He narrowed his eyes and grunted to himself, pondering the wolf, and the key. "It almost seemed human..." He said as he reached the edge of the woods. He walked back into the shack and snuck upstairs. He flipped through the journal to find a blank page, once he did he began scribbling his observations on the wolf.

  The brunette didn't even notice as his sister sneaked up to his bed before roaring. Dipper jumped and screamed, clutching his chest and holding a pen out defensively.

   "Mabel! Didn't I tell you to quit doing that?" Dipper growled through clenched teeth.

   Mabel didn't reply to his question when she started speaking however. "How's the nerd book? Your writing something down?" Mabel snatched the journal from Dipper and quickly read the practically chicken scratch. "Ohmygosh, Dipper you met a wolf and you didn't tell me.." She gasped in a slightly over exaggerated tone of voice.

   "Yeah, now give that back!" Dipper whined as he reached out trying to grab the journal. Mabel closed it and moved her hand back so Dipper couldn't  reach.

   "Ah-ah-aaahh... You gotta tell me about the wolf before you write anything more in your nerd book." Mabel was smiling practically ear to ear as she made this 'deal' you could say. Dipper groaned before going on to explaining how he fell asleep and woke up, then got lost and how he was being followed then the wolf pointing him home, and today's events as well.

   Mabel listened intently, and when Dipper finished she spoke. "Diiippperr... I think that wolf is a giiirrrlll!" She grinned and pushed Dipper's shoulder playfully, but Dipper replied with a small 'ow.' Mabel ignored it and continued talking. "I'm sure if you bring her a gift she'll start warming up!" Mabel laughed and stood up. "Well, enjoy your nerd book, Grenda and I are spending the night at Candy's." Mabel went over to her side of the room and started packing up simple things.

   Dipper let out a sigh and picked up the book, continuing to write in it. He thought about what Mabel said. _Maybe the wolf would enjoy a gift..._ He decided. He spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about what a _wolf_ would like for a gift. He chewed on his pencil again as he thought, until his train of thought was interrupted by Stan's yelling.

   "Dipper! Dinner!" Dipper realized that he actually was hungry as his stomach growled in reply. Dipper stood up, closing the journal with the pencil to hold his page. He went down the stairs and sat down, Stan had made a pizza. Dipper sat in silence and Stan just took his food into the living room and watched the tv. Dipper looked at the pizza.

   "Maybe food.." He accidentally said allowed. He promptly shoved another bite of food into his mouth, but then realized that Stan was watching tv and Ford was likely downstairs doing whatever. Dipper are his fill before heading back upstairs and laying down, falling asleep nearly right away even though it was still light out.


	3. Dreams are Terrible

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty so this chapter is a little better because by this point I had grasped my plot a little xD

Dipper laid on his bed, resting his feet up on the wall. He stared at the ceiling. Gift for a wolf... Gift for a wolf... He thought. I'll find some food, meat preferably... I hope she'll like it and not just eat me instead... The day had gotten tense fast with Stan and Ford getting into another argument. Dipper had a small feeling that it was something to do with him and Mabel but he hoped that he was wrong. Dipper sat up and slipped on a hoodie, grabbing the journal and a pencil. He snuck down the stairs, passing Grunkle Stan's bedroom. The door was shut but he could hear Stan talking to someone.

"Are you sure?" Stan said his voice was laced with sadness. Dipper realized he was on the phone and heard the faint voice of... His dad. Dipper continued listening, but couldn't understand his dad. "Yeah, they can," Stan said. "Mm, bye." Dipper heard the noise of the phone hanging up. Dipper blinked and walked away as silently as he could. He rummaged through the fridge and grabbed the three pieces of leftover pizza, he took them on a paper plate and walked out into the woods, following the claw marks on the trees.

He sat down on the flat rock by the stream and set the pizza in front of him. He opened the journal and started reading, waiting for the wolf. He found himself on the page he was writing about the wolf. He noted down in it that he hadn't seen the strange creature yet today. Then he started reading about the dire wolves, in hopes that maybe some of the behaviors in the she wolf but he came up empty handed.

Dipper started to drift off into sleep, his head kept nodding off, which woke him up each time. He stood up and stretched, glancing around. It's getting dark... He thought to himself with a small sigh. Suddenly he heard a noise from across the stream, he looked over and saw the auburn colored wolf. The wolf stood there briefly before crossing the stream. Dipper smiled and turned around grabbing a piece of pizza and holding it out to the wolf. She reached out her muzzle and sniffed it slightly, there was a strange emotion in her eyes briefly before she reached out and took it gently in her jaws. She lifted up her muzzle and sorta tossed it and caught it, she swallowed the piece and let out a small happy bark of some sort, all traces of the unreadable emotion gone. Dipper handed the she wolf another piece and she acted the same way, this time nuzzling against Dipper, nearly pushing him onto his back. Dipper smiled and gently pushed back her muzzle. "H-hey!" He laughed and gave her the last piece.

She let out another small bark of sort and cackled. The she wolf sat down and tilted her large head, this reminded Dipper again of how easily the wolf could've killed him that first night, he shuddered slightly from the thought. The wolf moved her head upright, noticing Dipper's sudden discomfort.

Something like hurt flashed in her eyes and she stood up, turning around, she seemed to stand there for what felt like minutes before letting out a small whine and padding slowly to the water. Dipper felt guilt and sat there, hugging his legs are he watched the wolf churn the water up as she walked through the stream. He sighed and grabbed his journal and pencil before standing up and starting the journey home. By the time he got to the shack it was nearly pitch black. He shut the door behind himself and let out a sigh, only to be greeted by Mabel's hug.

"Hey Bro-sph!" Mabel was grinning ear to ear. "Did you give the wolf something?" She whispered in Dipper's ear as she hugged him. She pulled away, the smile still on her face. Dipper nodded slightly, not bothering to verbally reply at the moment. The twins heard the TV flipping channels and they both walked into the living room. Grunkle Stan sat in his normal chair, scratching his side.

"Oh hey kids," He grumbled out. Dipper smiled as he saw his uncle was watching a mystery show.

"Grunkle Stan! Your watching a mystery show!" Dipper said estactically. He sat down and watched the TV. Mabel muttered something about how they could be watching something better then that show.

"It's the only okay thing on.." Grunkle Stan replied. "Every other channel is some dumb romance." He added with a grunt. "Just started kid." Stan said and sat back in his chair. Dipper grinned and sat down watching the TV. Mabel groaned and went upstairs to do whatever. The next hour and a half until the show ended and Dipper stood up, groaning as his back cracked.

"Alright, I'm gonna go upstairs." Dipper told Grunkle Stan and went upstairs. Dipper saw that Mabel was sprawled out on her bed, and Dipper did the same on his. He groaned slightly as he realized he had a headache growing in the front of his head.

"What's up bro-bro? Get tired of that dumb old mystery show?" Mabel asked a sly smile as she stared up at the ceiling. Dipper rolled his eyes slightly and glanced over at Mabel.

"No it ended, on a cliff hanger." He sighed, still feeling attached to the characters and the storyline. He grabbed the journal and flipped to the empty page he has started writing in about the wolf, summarizing what had happened in the latest encounter. He sighed as he felt guilt in the pit of his stomach from how the wolf had walked away sullenly. He chewed on his pen absentmindedly as the Burnette though about the wolf and it's human like emotions.

Dipper accidentally chewed through the pencil, causing it to splinter in his mouth. He flinched and spit out the pieces. This was a rather common occurrence.

"You bit through your pencil again? Man your good at this." Mabel giggled and stretched. "May as well start calling you a beaver or something similar." The brunette giggled. Dipper groaned at the nickname and continued reading until his body screamed for sleep, which his by now tired brain easily complied.

~~

The woods. They were different... Part of Dipper knew he was dreaming do to how unrealistic the woods looked, the colors were dull for it being summer. He glanced around and started walking. He stopped as he saw a flash of red. The she wolf. He started out, his eyes wide. It's just a dream, I know this. Dipper desperately reasoned with himself. Then why am I so scared? Dipper sucked in a breath as the she wolf came into view in front of him. Instead of her normal yellow eyes they were red. She growled, her fur standing on end, she seemed to glare straight through Dipper. He turned around as froze as the world turned gray. A familiar laugh split through his ears, but it echoed more then it used too. Dipper fell forward, the wolf had pushed him onto the ground and jumped at something.

~~

Dipper sat up suddenly, his hands were sweaty and his breath was short. He glanced around the dark room and sighed. "Just a dream.. Just a dream..." He mumbled to himself, rubbing his hands on his blanket before holding his face with his hands. That was scary.. Was it even real... Was that really Bill.. He thought, fear in his entire being. I thought we stripped him of his powers.. The brunette glanced around the dark room, his paranoia causing him to feel that someone else was in the room, but it was just Mabel sleeping on her in the other side of the room. Dipper massaged his forehead, the headache from before still there...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd the fourth chapter will be longer and more detailed I promise. I was just too lazy to edit these chapters! Anyways! I hope you have a good day!


	4. Wolves aren't nice

  Dipper sighed softly, holding back a yawn, after the dream he never ended up getting himself back to sleep, it wouldn't have been the first time he sat in silence all night, wishing he had the guts to sleep. He had many issues with rest after the apocalypse, where they managed to beat Bill and strip him of his powers, or so they thought. Dipper was unsure if his dream was just his own mind playing tricks or if it was actually the dream demon that had appeared. Either way it was going to be awhile until Dipper could sleep soundly again. The brunette's head was starting to hurt worse then when he went to sleep, the splitting headache caused him to groaned. He rubbed his forehead and sighed. Dipper felt that his forehead was warm, but brushed it off. He looked outside, the moonlight shined brightly, illuminating the grass and the leaves, causing it to look silver. He swung his feet over the edge of his bed and swung them back and forth for a bit, staring outside and ignoring his pounding headache. This went on for about fifteen minutes. The silvery land outside seemed to almost call the brunette. He sighed and stood up, his legs felt like jelly but he still stood and stretched, letting out a small groan. He grabbed a sweatshirt and slipped it over his head. He hummed quietly, hoping to not wake up Mabel. He grabbed the third journal as well as a pen. He reached for a flashlight, hesitating briefly, before he grabbed it and shoved it into his pocket. He glanced at Mabel and sighed softly.

   He crept across the room to the doorway and crept down the stairs on almost silent feet. He slipped out the door and paused on the porch. He took a deep breath, breathing in the cool fresh air. He let it out slowly, feeling it quell his headache a little bit. He jumped off the porch and started walking across the silvery dirt. The moon made it seem calm, and peaceful. He looked up at the sky, seeing a stray cloud drifting by the moon, covering the bottom of the moon slightly. Dipper gazed at the stars and hummed quietly he shoved his hand into his pocket, feeling the flashlight. He started making his way into the woods, stepping over fallen branches and vines. It grew darker as he stepped into the silvery woods, the moonlight was illuminating the normally green leaves above so little moonlight traveled into the bottom of the forest. Dipper didn't really care as he walked, holding the small metal flashlight in his pocket, planning to only use it when he needed. The brunette continued walking, shifting his hat every now and then. Soon he couldn't see any of the moonlight, and he was in nearly pitch black.

   The brunette would've been scared, if this had been his first time in the woods. But after exploring them time after time he was used to them, and could identify nearly every noise. Dipper's head was still pounding slightly, but the cool summer air helped. The brunette decided that it was getting to dark without his flashlight when he stumbled over a vine on the ground and nearly fell face first into a rose bush. He pulled out the flashlight, clicking the light on. He started walking, and humming a tune to some random song. The brunette glanced behind him, feeling his paranoia start to get to him. Dipper shuddered and continued walking, his brown eyes searching behind every bush and tree. He found himself looking to every small branch breaking. He clenched his jaw and continued walking.

   The feeling of anticipation set into his mind and heart. The brunette started fretting in his mind over various monsters that could be lurking just out of sight. He narrowed his eyes and froze as he heard a loud growl, to his left. He glanced over, staying perfectly still, breath hitched in his throat as the brunette struggled to stay calm. He continued watching, hearing a series of small grunts growing closer to him. Dipper searched the bushes, until he spotted yellow eyes. He couldn't help but feel relief as he saw the muzzle of the wolf. He let out a large breath and tried calming down as the wolf moved out. She grunted and touched her wet cold nose to Dipper's hand. The auburn wolf huffed and let out a growl, seemingly asking why Dipper was out here. The truth was that the brunette didn't have a reason. The small bits of silvery light that reached the forest floor at all flickered as the wind blew it gently. He stepped back from the wolf, trying his best not to shine the flashlight in her eyes while look over her with it. Which he failed terribly at. The wolf growled, pinning her ears back. Dipper noticed a new scratch above her left eye, it had scabbed over but seemed to have left dried blood all around the wound. The brunette felt his stomach churn slightly at the sight of the wound but he ignored it.

The wolf seemed to notice his discomfort and stepped back. She turned around and started walking, her tail swishing slightly. Dipper noticed that her tail had a black tip. He watched her for a few moments, unsure of her motives. The wind rustled the leaves, bringing Dipper's attention to the chill that went down his back, unsure if it was the wind or his nerves as the brunette started following the wolf, ignoring his aching muscles and the thoughts of his unsettled mind. They continued like this for awhile, Dipper noticed his breathing was uneven and he tried his best to get it to a normal level, the wolf didn't notice as she continued walking, ignoring every noise that was around them, however Dipper jumped and nearly yelped each time he heard a twig or stick crack, half the time it was under his own shoes however. 

Soon instead of dead leaves and twig under his feet there was stone, the same stone that was bordering the stream. He watched as the wolf stopped, wondering if she knew he had followed her. Dipper scolded himself at the thought. _Of course the wolf knew_ , he was practically louder then a badger in those woods. The brunette watched the wolf curiously. She sniffed the stone where she stood and glanced back at Dipper, her yellow eyes held some sort of indistinguishable emotion. But before the teen got a chance to even guess at what the emotion could've been she looked back to the stream, which lazily flowed. The she-wolf padded to the stream and walked in, the water barely reached her neck as she walked across. She paused at the other side, seeming to want Dipper to get across. The brunette was already practically freezing, water would not help. He glanced around, seeing that the rock was a little higher then the other side of the dry sandy stream bed on the other side. The brunette calculated it was about five feet across the river, which slightly unnerved him. But, jumping across was the only solution to crossing the stream without taking too long and not getting soaked. Dipper sighed softly to himself. 

"I'm going to regret this.." He whispered mostly to himself before backing up and getting a running start. He closed his eyes before he jumped, feeling his heart leap into his throat as he no longer felt the ground under his feet. It felt like minutes, hours even before Dipper felt his shoes collide with sand. _Fuck, that hurt.._ Dipper thought as pain shot up his ankles. He managed to stay on his feet, wobbling slightly on unsteady ground of the sand. The brunette looked up the wolf, and saw _pride_? Could a _wolf_ even be _prideful_? Either way Dipper started walking up the sandy bank and sighed with relief as he stepped onto grass, which was far more solid ground. The pride, or whatever disappeared from the wolf's expression as she turned around and started walking again. However now instead of the calm walk she had earlier she seemed more stiff, alert, as her ears were constantly swiveling around, listening to things Dipper couldn't hear. The brunette noticed this, which put him into a state of unease as he followed closer then before, turning off his flash light and slipping it into his pocket, not sure if whatever the wolf seemed wary of would come at the sight of the flashlight.

The brunette continued attempting to convince himself that he was better off with the flashlight and following the wolf. Even through Dipper's fear he did notice that they seemed to be walking on a well worn path, it was clear of most branches and dead leaves. _Why am I following a wolf? Again._ Dipper asked himself silently, his hands in his pockets, fiddling with the pen he had shoved into them earlier. The brunette stared at the path ahead of them, trying to make out what he could, though the branches over head let little of the moonlight through, proving it to be difficult for Dipper to see where him and the wolf were heading, but from what he could tell in the low light the path veered left. Dipper wondered about the key around the wolf's neck, but his thoughts were forgotten as the wolf stopped and growled lowly. Dipper's eyes widened slightly as the wolf turned around slowly. The growl was deep and her eyes seemed to be void of emotion as they quickly picked out Dipper in the low light. She started prowling towards Dipper, still growling.  He scuffled back, his mind becoming numb with fear. He was brought back to the first day they met, but this was different. She actually seemed hostile. Dipper continued backing up, but he tripped over something, likely his own feet.

He fell flat onto his back, to which the she wolf took advantage of, pouncing onto him. He noted that his head hit a rock, causing him to suck in a painful breath. Dipper wheezed as her paws landed roughly on his stomach, he could feel the cold metal of the key brush against his throat. The wolf's head was above brunette's, yellow eyes glaring. Dipper struggled under the wolf's weight, he felt bile rise in his throat from the wolf's pressure on his stomach and he found it difficult to breath. The wolf moved her head, Dipper's head was light and he couldn't tell if it was from the rock or his fear. His mind grew numb as he realized she was aiming for his throat. Dipper froze, all he felt was dread as he squeezed his eyes shut, willing this all to be a dream. 

_Never again follow a wolf into the woods._

~~~~

The bright sunlight shining into her room is what woke up Mabel. The brunette sat up, her long strands of hair were beyond tangled. She ignored her hair and looked over at Dipper's side of the room. It was a mess as always, Mabel's side was much more organized, if you can call things being in piles of similar items organized. She wasn't surprised to see that his bed was empty. Mabel stretched, humming quietly to herself. She smiled as she felt her back crack, relishing in the relieving feeling. She stood up and blinked. She could hear muffled voices downstairs, causing her to frown. They sounded angry, Mabel didn't like the sound of that at all. She sighed softly to herself and pulled the closet sketch book next to her, grabbing a pencil. She flipped to an empty page and began doodling, she found herself sketching what the wolf Dipper had met looked like, or at least what she thought it looked like. She could still hear the angry voices from downstairs. She set down the sketchy wolf and pencil. She stood up,  creeping to the door and opened it quietly, she wasn't as silent as Dipper was however. She snuck down the stairs and could tell from the voices that they were in the living room. She walked to the kitchen, getting food, and listening to their now hushed argument - they must have realized the brunette was downstairs. Mabel grabbed her bowl of cereal and walked to the living room glancing between the too as Ford dropped off his sentence. 

"What were you guys arguing about?" Mabel asked as she took a bite of her cereal. The two looked between each other, embarrassment suddenly clear on their faces. Mabel let out a small giggle as she chewed up her cereal. She saw the Grunkle Stan was holding the remote away from Ford. "What are you guys gonna watch?" She asked, picking up on the fact that this was clearly what they were arguing about.

 

"Baby fights!-"

"Science channel!-" The two of them stated boldly at the same time, before glaring at each other. 

"That science stuff is going to make my brain mush!" Stan yelped as Ford half hugged, half tackled, trying to get the remote, reaching as Stan struggled to keep it out of his reach.

"Not my fault your not smart enough to understand it!" Ford retorted, still stretching to reach the remote. Mabel giggled and snuck up behind the arguing pair of brothers, plucking the remote from Stan's hands and plopping down on the couch. She turned on the tv and found a channel playing some ballerina stuff. The two hadn't even realized the remote was taken until they heard the tv click on, both looked at Mabel with a baffled expression.

"Ballerinas?" Both whined simultaneously. Mabel nodded, hiding the remote behind her back as she started eating her cereal again. The two groaned, Stan sat on the couch and scratched his stomach, while Ford left the living room, shaking his head slightly. The show wasn't that interesting, she had to admit. But the brunette left it on for the sake of Stan and Ford.

"Mabel?" Ford called from in the kitchen suddenly, concern was laced into his voice.

"Yeah?" Mabel yelled back, causing Stan to cover his ear facing her slightly.

"Why is there a black cat in here?" 

"Oh he was outside two, or three days ago so I brought him inside!" Mabel chirped, unable to contain the grin that spilled across her face at the thought of the cat. Ford peered into the small living room, his eyebrows furrowed together. 

"You do realize that black cats really are more closely connected to demons and therefore if possessed will still allow a demon access to their powers?" Ford stated, Mabel glanced up to him and shrugged. "Mabel the cat's going back outside." He stated bluntly. The brunette nearly choked on her cereal as he stated that.

"You sure that isn't some wise tale? the cat isn't going outside!" She screeched and set down her bowl of cereal, and ran into the kitchen, grabbing the cat rather rudely, which caused it to hiss slightly in pain. She bounced upstairs with the cat, shutting the door and locking it. The brunette sat down the cat and walked to her bed, watching him sniff curiously. The cat was completely black, with green eyes, his fur was that of a medium haired cat, long, but not to the point where it would need a _ton_ of care to keep it soft and silky. "Here kitty, kitty," Mabel whispered, tapping her fingers together to get the cat's attention, which it did. He looked up to her, but looked away, more interested in the scents of the room. Mabel glanced outside, seeing it was about three in the afternoon, this was what she got for sleeping in. The brunette attempted running a hand through her hair, but failed terribly as it was extremely knotted.

Mabel reached over and grabbed her hair brush, starting at the bottom of her hair and working her way up slowly. She started humming quietly and couldn't help but smile as she watched the black cat paw at some streamers. The brunette gazed around the colorful room, and couldn't help but freeze when suddenly the color was drained from it. The black cat perked it's ears up and looked around, blinking. Mabel held a breath as she waited, and wasn't to surprised when she heard a quiet laugh, she glanced around as it didn't echo as much as it used to, and soon the triangle she knew would appear popped up in front of her. Mabel jumped back slightly, squeaking. She was slightly surprised at what she saw, the demon seemed.. Tired. If a triangle with one eye could look tired. 

"Well, well, well! Shooting Star!" The demon still seemed tired, his voice still wasn't echoing nearly as much. Regardless it still sent chills down Mabel's spine as she set down her hair brush gently. She stayed silent, unsure of what to say beyond her slowly rising anxiety and confusion. The black cat stared at Bill in curiosity, there must have been some reason he let the cat move as well. Bill's pupil looked to the cat, his arms were crossed behind his flat back as he drifted towards the cat, holding out a hand. Mabel watched, her breath hitched in her throat. The black cat's green eyes observed the triangle, deciding whether he was prey or predator. 

The cat seemed to have made it's decision as it rubbed it's cheek against Bill's thin black hand. Mabel stared at the scene with utter amazement. She could hear from her bed the cat purring as Bill scratched under it's chin.

"W-why are you here.." Mabel asked softly, swallowing roughly. The triangle pulled back his hand and turned around to face Mabel. His eye was narrowed in what seemed to be fear, but Mabel couldn't be sure, why would an omniscient being be scared? 

"I need to possess this cat." He stated simply. Mabel's eyes widened, well he certainly wasn't in the mood to talk in riddles like the triangle used to.

"W-why..?" She stuttered, looking from the cat to Bill. He didn't want to possess even Mabel herself, but the _cat. Why the cat_. 

There was a long pause before the triangle made a reply. "It's important. I saved Pine Tree earlier this day. There was an agreement." Mabel was very unsure of how to react to that, but her heart was in her throat. The brunette was at a loss of words, this was such a bizarre conversation.

"F-for how long..."

Again, a long pause. The triangle shrugged. Mabel nodded slightly. "G-go ahead..." Mabel whispered, part of her wondered if he would hear at all. Bill blinked and turned around, it looked like he floated into the cat's head and they were both engulfed in a blue flame, which sizzled out quickly. The cat - no, Bill laid on the floor, his eyes flickered open slightly, instead of the green, they were now a deep golden yellow. Mabel saw the world around her be splashed with colors around her.

There was one thought on her mind, that she knew wasn't her own.

_Don't tell anyone it's me, Shooting Star._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hard to write Mabel's part I'll admit. x~x Hope you guys enjoyed! (Maybe next chapter will be longer?)
> 
> Oh I forgot to say, new story name! :D  
> *coughs* Enjoy that cliffhanger.

**Author's Note:**

> See I told you it was short. xD


End file.
